Hi everyone from Philippines . I've been following this forum for a while, get advices and today I've gathered my courage and registered here.

I've got my first chow just last month. He was a month and 2 weeks old.(Hope you don't judge me with this but I was told that he is already 2 mos old by the seller) so at first he was very gentle and obedient. I was able to potty train him and was able to respond to sit and up command so fast which was very amusing as a first time chow owner. I've got dogs before, now I currently have Japanese spitz dog. she wasn't able to learn these commands but she's very gentle as well. So back to my boy, lately his biting has been worse. He bites when we wear long pants, or wear slippers indoors. Sometimes he would just push himself onto you and then bite which causes the bite to be deep and scratch the skin off. I've searched online and seen this timeout method where you will yelp when he bites but when he bites again you'd place him somewhere puppy proof alone then get him after 5-10mins after. This method worked before. His bite became gentler and then he seems to like the timeout place now or whatever then his biting became worst and he even shakes his head while his teeth are on your skin.

I believe I can do something to fix this. I don't really want to give up my poor baby. He has been crying in his sleep before but not now since I try to be really gentle on him but then his biting gives too much problem for the people in our house and they already dislike him and want to rehome him. I am hoping that we can still fix this. I'm scared of rehoming him because maybe his new family won't tolerate him or be violent to him.

Please help me to fix his issue. I'm doing the nothing in life is free method. I make him sit before feeding him. Or when he wants to go out.

Hi! I'm from the Philippines too. I see nobody have replied to you yet and I am only here every once in a while. Owning a chow is a delight. They are easy to potty train and they keep to themselves, not very clingy but would certainly keep you company (from a distance) all the time = keeping an eye on you.

You say he was sold to you at 8 weeks (2months) old and he was with you for 6 wks (1.5 mos) which makes him 4 months and 2 weeks by Nov05. Your chow is teething and permanent teeth will completely emerge soon (1-2 months from now). This teething is the reason he is biting into anything like slippers, pants, socks etc.

Please buy him a toy of his own. Being a chow , he might be picky with his toys. This nipping (biting) is a puppy thing and please do not make it worse by pulling or tugging (he sees it as a play like tug-of-war) , and since perhaps you or household members would shriek or shout at him everytime he does it, it (the nipping) is reinforced by the "approval" (that is shouting or shrieking).

If you have already done all these things (negative reinforcement), for you to remedy the situation, YOU all must change your attitudes, Puppy time out are fine.

Next time he does it, IGNORE him. You might yelp at him then carry on ignoring him. When he stops and bites his toy, say "good boy" and give him a kibble. But that is just about it. Don't shower him with praises all at once. Dont baby him. Chows are like our native dogs. Aloof but loving. Loves to roam around but is protective of the home.

You might be sorry if you give him away, Chows are great companions and has an innate noble character that seemed to say: "I'm better than that" when he sees other dogs going ballistic over something (you or a toy or car or cat).

I found my Chow puppy very easy to train and easily got him out of the habit that you have explained.I also used the yelping method to break my puppy's bad habit. I yelped in a way that made him believe he had hurt me (Chow's are usually very loyal to their owners and wouldn't want to hurt them) I followed that up with a firm 'NO' so he knew that he had been naughty. Luckily i only had to do this a couple of times before he stopped.However I had one occasion when I came home and he had chewed up the post. Again i used a firm 'NO' and i put him outside and ignored him for a while. He's never done that since. I don't know if this helps, but I find that rope toys were a big distraction for my Chow and his favourite! I won't allow him to play with anything else other than dog toys so he knows not to be destructive.He is now two and a half years old and is very well behaved. I still use these method if he is occasionally cheek. I would advise firm, but not angry and to reward him when he stops biting following your command. Maybe try rewarding him with his own toy to chew?

Trust me, what you are going through is very normal. My Chestnut was just like that during her teething stage. She was a docile gentle puppy, then became a teething demon. You just have to be patient as this phase will pass and you will get your regal, intelligent dog back. I coped during this phase with 1. Time outs- after a stern no walk away and leave them alone. that makes them sad 2. Bought several chew toys (rope bone, scrub brush-weird but true. Tabo! and a Kong. 3. pringles can with cones and metal sealed inside thrown when she gets frisky. it stuns them into stopping. WARNING: they adapt pretty quick though so you have to keep inventing new tricks. The longest three months of my life

Please do not give your baby away. Explain to the household that this is a phase that will pass. Have them play with him/her to expend energy. A tired dog is a happy behaved one. Socialize your baby as well. Get him/her used to people but never leave them alone with children at this frisky stage.

My biter is now at 3 1/2 year old couch potato who welcomes guests to our home, a delight in parties, loves her massages and her occasional t bone steak. She is submissive, patient, avoids conflict and so intelligent she follows directions.

What you have there is a dog that wants your attention. So please don't confuse that with aggressive behavior.

You certainly should give him the attention that he wants, but you need to redirect the method in which he gets your to react to him. For now, I would pet him and give him a belly rub if he is so inclined, but do not praise. When he is in these moods, teach him a simple trick. Show him how to give a 'high five'. Use a food treat to get his attention and teach him 'sit'. It's pretty easy if you haven't taught it before. Just put the treat under his nose. Hold, and draw it back over his head slowly. His natural attention/desire for the treat will draw his body into a sit position. Now is the time to praise and give him the reward.

Once he has sit, use the same treat to extend the training session. Again, get the treat in front of his nose. Lower it to his paw, and use your free hand to bring the paw up to the hand with the treat in it. Reward and praise as they meet.

Repeat frequently. Once he has it, withhold all attention until he 'asks' you with his paw. He will get it pretty quickly and realize that biting is not the way to get what he wants.

I'm wondering whether anyone could help me, I have been reading most posts on the forum but decided to actually write to anyone who will respond as we are desperate to raise Bear the best way we can! Me and my partner just got a chow chow puppy boy named Bear. He was 7 weeks old when we got him and will be 8 weeks tomorrow 02/05/2017 UK. We are really struggling with him to be honest, we already have an 8 year old Pomeranian named Tinkerbell and she just constantly growls anytime he goes near her which we are hoping in time she builds a bond with him (it's stressing me out!) however he does not listen to us, constantly biting hands, feet, legs, trousers anything he can get his teeth into. We tell him "NO" "NO BITING" "Scream OUCH" nothing works he is relentless with it, when we walk off he will grab our trouser leg, when he is lying next to us he is biting our hands and sometimes even shakes it. We can't walk him to burn off energy as he hasn't had his second injection yet so he is in the house (sleeps in the kitchen, Baby gated off) and sectioned off garden at the moment until he has had his final injection. He cries and whines whenever we leave him and getting us up really early in the morning because of the constant barking which just gets louder and louder and louder, we've even tried having a radio on low and he still cries and barks. We only have the rest of this week off with him then we go back to work and he will be alone from 0700-1600 5 days a week and we are really worried he is going to get so worked up and start becoming destructive. We want to nip this in the bud ASAP otherwise we may even need to think about rehousing him and I really don't want to but at the moment nothing seems to be working. This is really stressing me out! We've read so many things on here saying to be the alpha, only positive reinforcement but it's so frustrating when you don't know how to show a dog your the alpha and when you are so stressed and worrying how he is going to be when you go back to work, and getting barely any sleep we do get snappy! PLEASE HELP US AND BEAR! HOW DO YOU TRAIN A CHOW CHOW PUPPY!!!!!!﻿

Stacie...First, take a breath, it's going to be ok. My Shuggy was a wild and crazy puppy and today he is the sweetest, happiest, most loving chow I have ever owned. Your little guy was taken from his mom and siblings too soon. They could have helped to teach him some manners in regards to play and biting. Now it's up to you and him. A lot of this behavior is puppy and he will simply outgrow it and calm down. In the mean time I can only say what worked for me. We played with Shug a lot, and usually with a toy in between my hand and his mouth. We took him on walks, to the park, to Petsmart, etc for exercise and socialization. He slept with us every single night in the same room. He wasn't locked away or separated. Sleeping together is bonding. While he never had an accident in the bedroom, we didn't go more than 4 hours at night in those early potty training days because I stay up late and hubby gets up at dawn so that was covered. We also blocked off an area beside the bed and he didn't have full run of the room. Not a crate, just blocked off an area between bed and wall. He was happy to be with us so no crying or being lonely. When I went back to work he stayed in our master bath which is fairly large and tile until he was potty trained. I also puppy proofed the house because like most puppies he was all mouth and would chew whatever he could get, shoes, remotes, clothes, cords, books, etc. It's like having a baby in the house the first few months because he is a baby. I enrolled him in a puppy class as soon as he was old enough and that was great for socialization and a few little training tips. Positive training only is extremely important, especially with Chows. All of this alpha stuff I could care less about. Love him, treat him kindly, never ever strike him or humiliate him or lose his trust. As far as the painful puppy nipping like I said try to use a toy as a buffer. When he does get skin shriek ouch and play stops. If he keeps coming at you ignore him until he settles down then reward him. Go to another room without him or place him in his garden. I used a lot of 'no mouth/bite on momma' but honestly I think he outgrew it as much as anything I did or said. Get him lots of toys and variety for chewing. Give him tons of attention, play, exercise. Remember he went from a litter of playmates to just you and he is clueless how to act in his new world. The other dog in the house won't engage/play with him so I'm sure that's confusing but I'm also sure your other dog wonders why you brought a furry tornado in. Walk them together, take them places together, train them together, hopefully they will eventually build a bond. Raising a puppy, especially a wild one takes work, love and attention. You are his litter/pack/ mom now and he is a baby so you have to put the time in.

We adopted a rescue Chow who was 9 months old and had a biting problem. It was very frustrating a took a while to sort out, but it can be done.

First, let him know the bite hurts by giving a little yelp. It took some time work out what type of yelp he responded to, which was a little high pitched scream. Felt funny making it, but when he heard it, he was a bit taken aback and would stop. If you've ever stepped on his paw by accident or heard him yelp/squeal, that's the sound you want to try and replicate.

Second, we let him know that once he starts biting, play time is over. When he wanted to bite, we'd tell him "No" two times and on the third, we'd go into the kitchen and close the door and let him play with himself for a little while. He pretty quickly worked it out If we weren't playing with him at the time and he started biting our legs when we were on the couch or walking past as an indication he wanted to play, we'd say "No" twice and if he didn't stop, give him a "time out" on his own. If he was jumping around at the same time, I'd just hold him still for a while till he calmed himself.

Third, and this was already mentioned, give him lots of chew toys. Make sure to give a variety of textures to keep him entertained. Our chow loves socks, for instance, but will want to alternative with a rubber toy or a rope toy. Another technique we used was to take a toy and replace it with our arm or leg or whatever he was chewing and mostly he'd carry on with the new object.

I also found establishing dominance (letting him know you're the alpha dog) is quite an important factor when you want to stop him jumping around and biting and so on. Establishing a physical presence was most effective with our Chow. To give an example: we let our Chow on the couch and sometimes we're lying down on the couch and he takes it as an invite to gnaw at us or rumble. If "No" doesn't work the first time, I stand up on the couch right in front of him and say "No" and he behaves himself. Sometimes standing up in front of him or moving into his space is enough.

It sometimes felt like the biting would never end, but with continued effort it will go.